Companies can spot these influencers, and work out all sorts of other things about their customers, by crunching vast quantities of calling data with sophisticated “network analysis” software. Instead of looking at the call records of a single customer at a time, it looks at customers within the context of their social network.
By one estimate there are more than 100 programs for network analysis, also known as link analysis or predictive analysis. Adoption is being driven by the availability of more sources of information, and by the fact that network-analysis software is becoming easier to use.

The next step beyond mapping influence between individuals is to map the influences between larger segments of society. Once these societal networks of influence can be accurately mapped, they can be used to promote the spread of particular ideas—those that support stability and democracy, for example